Tenants on the price of Charles’ private estate are prohibited from buying property rights under laws’ selected by the heir to the throne ‘.
- Duchy of Cornwall is a £ 1bn portfolio of land, property and investment
- It is exempt from property laws that give families the right to buy homes directly
- Exemptions were accepted after Charles gained sight of the bill, the report said.
- Duchy of Cornwall’s proposal Charles influenced legislation
Tenants on Prince Charles’ private estate were forbidden to buy the property of their homes by laws enacted by the heir to the throne. ‘
Parts of the Duchy of Cornwall – a portfolio of real estate and £ 1bn investments – are exempt from two property laws that give families the right to buy their homes straight.
Archive documents show that the exemptions were accepted after Charles foresaw the legislation under an obscure parliamentary process, reports The Guardian.
The exemptions mean that residents live in homes that are difficult to sell as the lease expires and against which they struggle to borrow.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, meets residents of The Guinness Partnership’s 250th Affordable Home in Poundbury on May 8, 2015 in Dorchester, Dorset
Retired oil manager Alan Davis (pictured), a tenant on the Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall, told the newspaper he could not buy the freehold property of the bungalow he bought in 1984.
A spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: ‘Any allegation that the Prince of Wales has blocked or improperly influenced legislation is incorrect. ‘
Retired oil manager Alan Davis, a tenant on the Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall, told the newspaper he could not buy the freehold property of the bungalow he bought in 1984.
He was affected by an exemption in the Tenancy Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act of 1993, which excludes Dartmoor, much of which is owned in the Duchy and the Isles of Scilly.
With less than 65 years left to enforce his lease, he is concerned about the future value of his home and tells the Guardian: ‘The problem comes if you want to sell it. If the lease is about 30 years, people will just shy away from it. ‘
He added that it was ‘absolute nonsense’ that he and other residents could not buy their homes directly from the duchy.
Another tenant, Jane Giddins, has been living in one of the prince’s homes in the Somerset town of Newton St Loe since 1996.
She said she and her husband ‘poured a lot of money and love to renovate it’, but that when our children die, they will have a property that is very difficult to sell.
Mrs Giddins told the newspaper: ‘The question is: why should the crown be allowed to continue with a feudal system just because they want to?’
The Oval Cricket Ground and Dartmoor Prison are just some of the properties owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
The main purpose of the duchy was created in 1337 by Edward III for his son Edward, the Black Prince, and was to provide the heir with an income, independent of the monarch.
The Guardian also said the documents show that Charles, who holds the title Duke of Cornwall, is also looking at the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act of 2002, which contains exemptions that favor the duchy.
The Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall
A spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: ‘It is a long-standing agreement that the Prince as Duke of Cornwall will be asked by Parliament to give permission for the bills decided by Parliament to affect the Duchy of Cornwall’s interests. .
“If permission is required, draft legislation is by convention set to the Prince of Wales to serve only on the advice of ministers and as a matter of public record.”
The spokesman added: ‘The Duke of Cornwall or the Duchy of Cornwall Council has any involvement in drafting legislation relating to (any) part of the reform of leases, including domestic consent.
“However, the duchy makes sure that anyone who buys a property where the duchy owns the property becomes fully aware of the restrictions that may apply to the property as a result of the legislation.”